Champions League betting update

After a long wait, the knock-out round of the Champions League starts tomorrow, with matches between AC Milan and Manchester United, and Lyon and Real Madrid, before the other matches this week or next week. Teams have fared differently during the break since their last European matches, and will go into these fixtures with differing degrees of confidence.

Last season`s champions, Barcelona, are favourites to win again this year, priced at 3/1 (bet £10 to make £30 profit). Barca should easily negotiate their first round tie with Stuttgart, and they are 1/9 to qualify from the tie. Chelsea, who suffered a last minute heart-breaker against Barca in the semi-finals last year, are second favourites, priced at 9/2. They face Inter Milan in the first round.

Real Madrid are next at 11/2, and face Lyon tomorrow night. They made up ground on Barca at the top of Serie A, but have not made it past the first knock-out round once in the last five years. Manchester United, who lost the final to Barca last year, are at 9/1, and will be looking to Wayne Rooney to lead them to glory to repeat their success of 2008.

Arsenal are 10/1 to win, and face Porto in this round. They reached the semis last year, but were taken apart by Cristiano Ronaldo and Man Utd. Inter are rated as the most likely Italian club to triumph, despite manager Jose Mourinho`s recent poor success rate in Europe. He won the UEFA Cup and Champions League in consecutive seasons with Porto, but he failed to reach a final with Chelsea, and has failed to make it past the first knock-out round with Inter.

Bayern Munich, who made it through thanks to a decisive 4-1 victory over Juventus, are at 18/1. They have recently picked up their form hugely, and are now level on points at the top of the table, equal with Leverkusen. They play Fiorentina this round. Sevilla are priced at 20/1 with Victor Chandler, and have an easy draw in the shape of CSKA Moscow, who they will be confident of dispatching.

AC Milan are priced at 25/1, which reflects the hard task they will have in beating Man Utd. They are also struggling in Serie A, and are nine points behind leaders Inter. Bordeaux are at 28/1 with Coral and could be dark horses for the competition. They came top and went unbeaten in a group with Bayern Munich and Juventus, and playing very well in the French League. They also face reasonably easy opposition in Olympiakos.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the 11/10 favourite to win the Golden Boot this year, to add to the one he won in 2008. He has already scored six goals in the competition. Lionel Messi won it last year, but has only scored two goals so far this year. Chelsea`s strike partnership of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka are at 10/1 and 14/1 respectively, and they have both scored three goals so far. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is at 25/1.

The favourite to be winning nation is Spain at 5/4, just ahead of England at 13/8. Italy is at 8/1, and Germany is at 14/1. France is at 24/1, Portugal is at 74/1, and Greece and Russia are both at 100/1.

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